Steaua Bucharest v Manchester United: Europa League – live
Two former European Cup winners meet tonight, hoping in vain to restore some sense of former glory in in Europe’s second-tier competition, but both with aspirations of making the top eight and automatic qualification to the last 16.
Manchester United, currently fourth in the table, need a win to be sure of that tonight but a draw at Steaua probably be enough, so long as a string of unlikely results elsewhere don’t happen. The home side are hanging onto eighth and will also want a victory to make sure of their progress but anything else and they could be usurped by Galatasaray, Bodo/Glimt, Olympiakos, Plzen or even Rangers and AZ, way back on 11 points.
This is the current table, as things stand before the 8pm kick-offs (all times GMT).
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lazio | 7 | 13 | 19 |
| 2 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| 3 | Athletic Bilbao | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 7 | 5 | 15 |
| 5 | Lyon | 7 | 8 | 14 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 5 | 14 |
| 7 | Anderlecht | 7 | 3 | 14 |
| 8 | FCSB | 7 | 3 | 14 |
| 9 | Galatasaray | 7 | 4 | 13 |
| 10 | Bodo/Glimt | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| 11 | Plzen | 7 | 3 | 12 |
| 12 | Olympiacos | 7 | 3 | 12 |
| 13 | Rangers | 7 | 5 | 11 |
| 14 | AZ | 7 | 1 | 11 |
| 15 | Union Saint Gilloise | 7 | 1 | 11 |
| 16 | Ajax | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| 17 | PAOK | 7 | 4 | 10 |
| 18 | Real Sociedad | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 19 | Midtjylland | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| 20 | IF Elfsborg | 7 | -2 | 10 |
| 21 | Roma | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 22 | Ferencvaros | 7 | -1 | 9 |
| 23 | Fenerbahce | 7 | -2 | 9 |
| 24 | Besiktas | 7 | -4 | 9 |
| 25 | FC Porto | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 26 | Twente | 7 | -2 | 7 |
| 27 | Braga | 7 | -4 | 7 |
| 28 | Hoffenheim | 7 | -4 | 6 |
| 29 | Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 7 | -8 | 6 |
| 30 | Rigas FS | 7 | -6 | 5 |
| 31 | Slavia Prague | 7 | -4 | 4 |
| 32 | Malmo FF | 7 | -7 | 4 |
| 33 | Ludogorets | 7 | -7 | 3 |
| 34 | Qarabag FK | 7 | -11 | 3 |
| 35 | Nice | 7 | -9 | 2 |
| 36 | Dynamo Kiev | 7 | -14 | 1 |
Of course, just like the mad conclusion of Wednesday night’s Champions League league phase, all the games are also kicking off at the same time for fairness. Here are the other 17 fixtures.
Ajax v Galatasaray
Anderlecht v Hoffenheim
Athletic Bilbao v Viktoria Plzen
Braga v Lazio
Dynamo Kyiv v FK RFS
FC Twente v Besiktas
Ferencvaros v AZ Alkmaar
Lyon v Ludogorets
Maccabi Tel Aviv v Porto
Midtjylland v Fenerbahce
Nice vs Bodo/Glimt
Olympiacos v Qarabag
Rangers v Union Saint-Gilloise
Roma v Eintracht Frankfurt
Real Sociedad v PAOK
Slavia Prague v Malmo
Tottenham v Elfsborg
As you can imagine, there are too many permutations to list here. The easier thing to say is that only leaders Lazio are assured of a top eight/automatic qualification to the last 16 and only the bottom-placed seven clubs (Rigas FS, Slavia Prague, Malmo, Ludogorets, Qarabag, Nice and Dynamo Kyiv) are certain of not making the play-off round (those that finish ninth-24th).
You can follow our clockwatch to keep pace with the rest of the games, including Tottenham v Elfsborg and Rangers v Union Saint-Gilloise.
As for Steaua Bucharest v Manchester United, we’ll have the team news shortly and kick-off at 8pm.